02 April 2018

Crafternoon - days 3 and 4

Before a Crafternoon can get going, there has to be a crafty project in hand. This inspires me to sort through a bag or box or both in the studio, to see what comes to hand.

I found a few things lately - not all destined for finishing, in fact most must go to that Great Elsewhere, never to return. Yes I'm attached to the history of making, of the way they could lead to some other idea, or even be turned into "something useful" - but really, ask yourself if you're in the same situation: is that how I want to spend my time? Think about whether you'd be enjoying it, or just doing it out of some sort of Duty - and to what sort of duty - to an ethos handed down through the family ("waste not...") or to the time or money or both you've already expended. What about the duty to yourself of going forward in the best way possible? The duty of using your time well? Is this the best use of my time? What would I rather be doing?

Printed linen napkin - perfect for a grid of french knots

... with a labyrinth on the reverse

Stitching the characters in the right stroke order

Pure pleasure to stitch with silk on wool - and the mothsaddeded some strategic holes

All that agonising simply stops once Crafternoon starts. Something gets Worked On, and it doesn't matter what.

A folded piece of fabric turned out to be a half-finished apron - I made several like this, years ago, for prezzies for friends and neighbours, and this is the final one, the ties already faced with other fabric because there wasn't quite enough -

Once it was done there were still a few boxes that had found their way to the work surface -

They'll be removed in time for Woodblock Wednesday.

One of my "helpful rules" for this reorganisation is to let sleeping dogs lie, but it's not a rule I'm good at following. So for some reason - ah yes, it was the need to deconstruct a bagfull of miscellaneous hanks of thread, gathered for a long-ago and long-forgotten project - I started work on the drawer with the rayon threads, most of which are variegated and look so very tempting in the skein ... but I've not really found a way to use them.

I pulled out the solid colours, which were in a bit of a tangle -

,...and pretty soon the drawer was all but empty, leaving room for the contents of that miscellaneous bagfull. Keepers are loose at the back of the drawer; hard-to-let-go-of are in the box lid; and an assortment is bagged up -

If you've ever been tempted by the lusciousness of threads at FOQ or other textile event, you'll know how quickly the ££ mount up. Often the greatest pleasure is in the choosing and purchasing. Oh, and the fondling...

For the next project, I turned to the hand-quilted lap quilt - beige! what was I thinking - started about 30 years ago -

Edging is on

There was a blob in the centre that needed covering, so I made pinwheels out of the little triangles cut away from the joins in the binding -

I stitched down a couple while listening to some Steve Reich and John Adams - but it'll take another Crafternoon to hand-stitch them all down.

2 comments:

I'd assumed from the title that you were joining with others for your crafternoons but obviously not. I don't know if it's the continuing wait for warmer days but I'm having four o'clock moments - the machines get switched off and I sit with needle or hook and spend some time with a talking book just enjoying the moment and the pleasure of working towards a finish.

Tuesday is Drawing Day - why not join in, wherever you are, any or every Tuesday? Find somewhere that has interesting things - it needn't be a museum, it could be your own home! - and just draw, using whatever media you want. Ask some friends to join you, then have a nice lunch.

The London group has grown to the point where it's getting difficult to find a cafe table large enough, and reluctantly I must say that it is no longer open to new members.

7 May - V&A, medieval galleries

14 May - Horniman (gardens?)

21 May - Wallace Collection

28 May - Southwark Cathedral

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I had work in "A Letter in Mind" at the Oxo Gallery, September 2017 and again in 2018.